Free Spirits
by universetranscending
Summary: An ordinary girl with an extraordinary ability to read minds gets entangled in the world of vampires, werewolves, and witches. How will she deal with all the bloodshed, feuds, and her romantic feelings for a certain original vampire? Klaus/OC
1. Chapter 1

**\- I -  
**

 _Have I set an appointment with the dentist?_

 _What if he doesn't like me?_

 _What the heck is she wearing? Seriously?_

I scanned the café…

 _Shit, I left my keys in my car!_

 _He's late again._

 _Hm… Chocolate or Vanilla?_

…as I unwillingly trespassed into the minds of everybody within the radius of this unusual gift I've had since I was a child.

 _I'll get vanilla. But it's more expensive though._

 _He's finally here._

Some people would want this kind of ability but I personally think that it's a pain in the ass. It deprives me of peace. It defeats the purpose of going to a café, which is to find solace so that I can read in peace. Anywhere where I'm not alone is too crowded and noisy for me, most of the time. There are days when it just stops, but those days are rare. I wish they could come by more often because I need it in my life.

"One Americano for Karen!"

I grabbed my coffee, and went on my way, out the café and into the streets of New Orleans.

The streets were lively, as usual. People went about their businesses. You'd observe some people walking fast as if they're racing against time, while the others, walking slow, in their own pace. Regardless of their speed, it seems as if everyone is so detached from the present. Too occupied by what they have to do in the future; too occupied to connect with the people around them.

As if to ease the pain caused by my ability to read mines and to tone down the noise, I grabbed a book and buried my nose in it as I walked back to my house from school. I could get to my home with my eyes closed so I walked assured that I wouldn't get lost since I wasn't looking at where I was going. I failed to consider the fact that I wasn't the only person on the pavement. As I walked, I felt myself bump into what felt like I wall. I felt myself falling backward and so I closed my eyes and braced myself for the impact… But it never came. Instead, I felt a hand wrap around my waist and a velvety voice with a British accent.

"I got you, love."

I opened my eyes to see a pair of beautiful brown eyes staring into my soul. His face was so tantalizing. There was something evil about his expression but at the same time, there's a hint of gentleness barely surfacing. As if he's trying to hide it. After what seemed like hours of staring into his eyes, my telepathy acts up. In a span of a few seconds, I felt his entire life story spill from his mind, and judging by his expression, he knew.

There were so many images. As if he has lived since the medieval period. So many memories of blood. Impossible. Vampires aren't real. They can't be.

He slowly unwrapped his hands from my waist.

"What are you?" I asked, dazed by a thousand years' worth of memories I had to absorb in matter of seconds.

"How did you- you cannot be a witch."

"Excuse me? Does this face look anything like a witch to you?" Despite the situation that I was in that could possibly pose as a threat to my life, I still managed to joke around. He chuckled.

"You can't be a vampire. They're just a myth. They're fictional. They can't-"

"Apparently they're real, and they're as real as the person standing in front of you, darling. Now tell me, how did you do what you just did a while ago?"

"I can- wait. Why should I tell _you_? I don't even know who you are."

I started to back away but he placed a hand behind my neck to keep be from getting farther and to lessen the gap between our faces.

"You are going to tell me who you are and how you were able to read my mind." He said as he looked me in the eyes intently.

"No way. I've seen what you're capable of and I will not make the mistake of trusting you."

He was obviously shocked at how I responded to his command as if things didn't go the way he expected them to be. I grabbed that short moment as a chance to run away from him. I turned my back and ran as fast as I could away from where he stood.

After what seemed like forever, I was able to reach my apartment in one piece without having to bump into that creature-whatever he may be. Despite knowing how dangerous he was, I felt something pulling me to him as if I needed to get to know him more; to understand him more. But I guess my instincts got the best of me and so I ended up running away from him.


	2. Chapter 2

**\- II -**

 _Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!_

The sound of the alarm clock reverberated across the entire room, signaling the start of a new day. But despite leaving behind, yesterday, I still can't get myself to forget about my encounter with the odd man yesterday. I'd like to believe that it was just my imagination but he unfortunately confirmed that he wasn't human. But just because he wasn't human doesn't mean he intended on harming me right? I mean, things are always how media portrays them to be. Next time I see him, I'll make sure to give him a chance.

My day mainly revolved around reading, reading, and reading since I had to prepare for an exam the next day. It was only around 6:00 that I actually found time to go out and unwind. I wore the necklace I've had since I was small, grabbed a coat on my way out, locked the door twisted it to double check if it was locked, and made my way to town.

Coming across this old bookstore reminded me that I needed to read more about vampires or whatever they maybe. The bell rang as I entered the empty store. It was empty, not counting the person on the counter. There were plenty of dusty, wooden shelves towering over me making the room darker than it already was. After scanning numerous shelves I was finally able to find the section that had books on the supernatural but they had only a few thin books on vampires. One book that caught my attention was this book on a personal encounter with a vampire. As I went through the pages, I noticed a man on the other side of the glass window staring at me.

 _What is she doing? Why is she reading about us? This is trouble._

His question frightened me. He was watching me. It scared me enough to change my expression and so I quickly returned the book on the shelf and rushed out the see of shelves and to the counter where people could see me but before I could , the man who was standing on the other side of the window a while ago was waiting at the opening of the shelves. Out of sheer panic I ran to the opposite direction and out of the store. When I reached the streets I slowed down a bit but still stayed on guard.

 _Where are you going?_

I could still hear his voice and so I continued walking. Aha! They probably don't go inside churches! And so I rushed to the nearest church which was around five minutes away from where I was. Luckily, it was open when I got there and so I quickly ran inside facing the door once I was safe within the confines of the sacred structure. Shortly after arriving, he appeared by the door with an evil look on his face.

"Well, well, well, it seems that you do know about us."

"Y-y-yes I do."

"Not enough to survive the night" And with that he entered the church. Next thing I knew, I was knocked down to the ground with him on top of me. I quickly grabbed the keys from my pocket and pierced his right eye. This stunned him for a while, buying me enough time to shove him off of me and run out the church. But in less than a minute, I felt a hand violently grab my arm and making me turn the opposite way of where I was headed.

"You're going to pay for that."

His face started to morph; his eyes turned dark and veins started to pop out of his temples. I screamed at the top of my lungs, calling for help that would never come, at least not on time. The vampire pulled my hair to the side as he neared his mouth to my neck. Sharp pain coursed through my body from my throat and in a matter of seconds I felt like I was being drained of life.

"Hey!"

I heard a new voice. Shortly after that, I felt my body fall to the ground with a thump. I tried to turn to see who it was but I couldn't even manage to lift a finger. My eyelids felt so heavy and I just really wanted to rest, but before everything could fade into darkness, I felt an arm gently lift my head.

"You're okay, you're okay."

With that physical contact, His memories came rushing into my head. Being the reassurance that he's a nice man-vampire- whatever he may be.

He placed his wrist to my mouth, as I opened it, I chocked in what seemed to be his blood. But within moments I felt my energy starting to return. He gave me a few minutes to recover before helping me up. Throughout the entire encounter, I couldn't help but just stare at him. He was bald and had dark skin, he was a bit tall with prominent muscles that could be traced under his shirt. I couldn't help but feel safe in his presence. I placed my hand over the skin that was pierced and to my surprise, the wound was gone.

"How did that-"

"I'm sorry about that. I'm-"

"Marcel." I finished his sentence.

"Do I know you?" _Is she a witch?_ He thought.

"No, and no I'm not a witch or any supernatural creature for that matter."

"Then how-"

"I can read minds. I don't know how, I don't know why." I paused for a moment. "You're acquainted to the man with brown eyes, blonde hair, and a british accent?"

He stared for the longest time before allowing me to change the subject "Yeah, how do you know Klaus?"

"I bumped into him yesterday. He's the reason why I know vampires exist which is probably the reason why _this_ chased after me and nearly killed me." I pointed to the man who attacked me earlier.

"Leave us." Marcel ordered him. He probably held a high position in the Vampires Associations Incorporated or something with the way he commanded him.

There was silence again.

 _What do I do with her…_

"You can let me go home safely, that's what you can do with me."

"There's no hiding anything from you, is there?" He joked.

"Unfortunately." I said with a chuckle.

"I guess there's only one thing left to do." He walked towards me, causing me to step back a bit. He did the very same thing Klaus did yesterday. I placed a hand behind my neck and stared intently in my eyes. "You will not tell any human about the existence of vampires."

"I don't think that's going to work."

From my eyes, his gaze descended to my neck. He reached for the necklace but when his skin came in contact with it, he quickly withdrew it as if he got burned by it.

"Vervain."

"What?"

"Who gave that to you?" He asked, pointing to my necklace.

"My mom's friend when I was still a baby. I've been wearing it ever since."

 _She seems like she can be trusted._

"You can trust that I won't tell anybody about any of this. I promise. If you'll find that I broke this promise, you can drain me of my blood."

He chuckled with my proposition. "Okay, okay." And with that he surrendered.

"Listen, I have to go. I still have to study for an exam tomorrow. It was nice meeting you, Marcel." I turned around and started to walk away but before I could go far he called out.

"Wait! I still don't know your name!"

I turned me head so that I could see him. "Karen, and yes, we can have coffee sometime."


	3. Chapter 3

**\- III -**

The breeze gently caressed my face as I walked the streets of town on my way to the bookstore where I found books on vampires. Just because I'm not allowed to tell anyone doesn't mean I can't widen my knowledge on them. It's best to know what you've gotten yourself into, right? Although I've seen what they're capable of through the eyes of the one named Klaus, Marcel from last night showed me that they aren't as brutal and as heartless as I first thought. Maybe they're like humans, some are capable of doing good, while some choose to be bad. After all, they were once humans too

As I turned at a corner, I was greeted by no other than the pair I was just thinking about; Marcel and Klaus. I tried to turn around in order to avoid getting into more trouble but Marcel's voice stopped me from doing so.

"Karen! Hey, where are you going?" He gave me as smile as he headed for where I was standing.

"Uhm… just going for a walk…" I chuckled nervously when my eyes laid on the man he was with.

"Relax, darling, I do not intend on harming you." He said with a grin on his face.

"Yeah you don't. You just intend on using me for your self-interests."

I raised an eyebrow as I crossed my arms in front of my chest. I knew it was going to come to this. And I refuse to be used as an instrument for his selfish plans. I will not allow anybody to use my ability for anything that can harm anyone.

"Ah, so it _is_ true that this little thing here can read minds. How convenient."

"Hey Klaus, we talked about this, didn't we? Leave her out of it." Marcel rejoined the conversation. But there's obviously no stopping Klaus from doing as he please.

"A no is a no."

In seconds I left my necklace being pulled from around my neck. Klaus threw it on the floor and inched his face closer to mine.

"what the-"He placed a hand behind my head like what he did during our first encounter.

"Klaus!" Marcel tried to pull him back so Klaus averted his attention to Marcel for a while.

"You will stay out of this." With those words Marcel quickly withdrew his hand and stood fidgeting at the side.

"Love, you will come with me at all the town meetings, you will read the minds of the other leaders, and you will tell me what they have up their sleeves." He said, looking intently in my eyes. He quickly let go and left the scene, leaving me staring at the spot where his face was a moment ago.

"Karen, I'm so sorry." He bent down to get my necklace by the chain and walk towards me. He took my hand and gently placed the necklace on my palm. I looked at him with a look that was desperately asking for help, for advice.

"I'm sorry." He said one last time, as he lowered his gaze to the ground.


	4. Chapter 4

**\- IV -**

I sighed as soon as I reached the confines of my apartment. It was almost dark when I reached home after the frightening encounter with Klaus which further tainted his already ruined image of himself. Doesn't he have the decency to at least ask properly? But, I doubt I would have agreed because I would have been able to tell what his ulterior motives were. If I didn't have this ability, maybe I'd be able to believe what I want to; I'd be able to trust blindly just like any other person.

 _Knock! Knock!_

I was pulled out of my deep thoughts by a knock on the door. Now who would visit me at this time of the day? I walked to the door from the dining area where I was sitting and peaked through the peeping hole to see a man holding what seemed to be a card.

"Delivery for miss Karen!"

I twisted the knob to open the door.

"Who's it from?" I didn't get an answer, instead, he held up the card for me to reach. There was nothing in his mind that gave any clue as to who the card was from. Odd.

"Okay… nice talking…" I said sarcastically, weirded out by him. I took the card and in seconds, he was out of sight. I walked to the dining area as I flipped the cover.

 _See you tomorrow at the town hall, 3:00 sharp. –Klaus_

Of course… I placed the card on the table and headed to bed. I'm going to have a long day ahead of me tomorrow.

* * *

My eyes fluttered open but remained squinted due to the rays of sunlight seeping through the curtains of my window. It's morning already. I checked my clock to see that it was already 11 o'clock A.M. I slept in! I rushed to my closet to change clothes and quickly headed out the apartment and to school By the time I got to the campus, I had already missed my first class and my next class was about to start.

After my three-hour class, I rushed outside only to be greeted by a classmate from the class I missed.

"Karen!" She looked distressed.

"Hey! What's up?"

"It's Anna! She was rushed to the hospital!"

"What?! Why?! Where?!" I said, panic starting to takeover.

"She got hit by a car around ten minutes ago!"

Without another word, I rushed to the hospital where she was. I went straight to the nurse's station to ask here she was and I and I was quickly led to the emergency room.

I waited outside for what seemed like hours. I don't know what I'd do if I'd lose my best friend. She's like a sister to me. We've been through so much since we were children and she's my only family here in New Orleans.

"Are you miss Anna Robert's relative?" A doctor finally went through the doors at around 2:30.

"I'm her friend. She has no family here in New Orleans. How is she? Is she going to be alright?"

"Her condition is still critical. She lost a lot of blood and she has a serious head concussion. We will continue monitoring her. We will update you."

My knees felt so weak. I didn't know what I was going to do.

"Can I see her?" I managed to say faintly.

"Of course."

* * *

It was already 8:00 P.M. When I left Anna in the Intensive Care Unit. I mindlessly headed to my apartment with my arms wrapped around my torso to keep me warm. It was only at that time that I remembered the meeting I was supposed to be in that he supposedly compelled me to go to. If I weren't in the situation I was in, I would have rejoiced but I was too occupied with the Anna's current condition.

"Well, well, well. It appears that compulsion doesn't work on you after all." I heard a very familiar voice from behind me. I stopped but didn't turn to meet eyes with Klaus. He swiftly moved to stand in front of me. So fast that my eyes weren't able to see how he got there. He looked at me as if he was examining me.

"You seem troubled, love." He smirked. "I can be of help to you. Ask and I shall grant it."

"What about you leave me alone?"

"I don't think that's what you want." He paused for a while. "I believe your friend is in the brink of death."

His words quickly caught my attention. I reached for his wrist to read his mind which he didn't protest against.

"I was being followed the entire time?"

"Think of it this way, if I didn't have you followed then I wouldn't have been able to find out that your friend is in the hospital fighting for her life and I won't be able to offer you a deal."

"You can save her?"

"Of course I can, darling. All you need to do is ask."

"And in return" I paused as I looked him intently. "You will use my abilities against the other sectors?"

"I wouldn't say against. Just so we can avoid be fooled by them." He smirked as he walked closer towards me.

"Do we have a deal?"

I shut my eyes and swung my head away from his direction. "O-okay."

"Very well. Rest assured tonight that your best friend will be well again in the morning."

He was gone by the time I opened my eyes.


End file.
